Apparatus for making plisse crepe



Sept. 15, 1942. T. MccoNNr-:LL

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLISS CREPE Filed Jan. 51,' 1940 .NNJMU @INN/0 @imdimer-1, 0106. n. N NN Patented Sept. 15, 1942 APPARATUS FOR MAKINGPLISS CBEPE Thomas McConnell, deceased, late of Northampton, Mass.. by

Northampton,

Hugh McConnell, executor, Mass., asslgnor to Hampton Company,EasthamptomMass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application January 31,1940, Serialo. 316,562 z claims.' (ci. ca -1s) The present inventionrelates to improvements ln a method and apparatus for producing plisscrepe by the method disclosed in the application of Thomas' McConnell,Serial No. 112,007, filed November 2l, 1936. One object of the inventionis to improve the manner of applying the mercerizing paste to the fabricso that greater uniformity in the design will be" secured throughout thewidth of the sheetand so that the use of a backing fabric may beavoided. Another object is to improve the manner of handling'the fabricduring the period of shrinkage so that fabrics of differentcharacteristicsmay severally be given the exact shrinkage timesnecessary for the desired operation of the mercerizing agent.

In the operation of making pliss crepe described` in the McConnellapplication referred to, the mercerizing paste was transferred to thecloth from the intaglio portions of an engraved roll While the back ofthe fabric was covered with a web of clothknown as the back gray. The

back gray itself bore against the rubber blanket and served the purposeof preventing transfer of the mercerizing paste to the blanket itself.In accordance with the present invention the back gray is eliminated andthe bad effects which would be secured by allowing the mercerizing pastewhich passes through the cloth onto the blanket to come into contactwith the back side of the web as the endless blanket returns again l tothe printing roll are avoided by washing the contacts with the besupplied by spraying the back side of the cloth after printing, but itis preferable to have the cloth predampened by the process described inthe patent to Thomas McConnell 2,117,491, May 17, 1938. 'For lightfabric the amount of moisture contained in the web by this predampeningis generally enough without the second spray.

The fabric thus treated is, in accordance with the prior method, allowedto ripple into a J-box and is then rippled onto a continuously advancingconveyor. As long as a definite grade of fabric is being treated this isperfectly satisfactory, but it has been found that by using twosuperposed continuously moving conveyors, and by adjusting the point atwhich the material startslo ripple onto the higher one the time ofshrinking can be varied so that fabrics of different grades can veryreadily be given the exact shrinkage time necessary without changing thespeed of the conveyor. f

It has also been found that superior results in the printing processwill be achieved if the fabric covered roll bearing the rubber blanketand serving as the ultimate backing for the printing process in theprior application referred to is replaced by a rubber covered roll. Thisis for the reason that the fabric covering of the roll tends to becomehard near its ends producing irregularity in the printing between themarginal portions and the central portions. The rubber covered roll onthe contrary bears evenly throughout its length and does not tend tobecome hard.

The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawing, which shows the process up to the end of theshrinking period only; it being understood that the process from thispoint on may be conducted in accordance with the teaching of the priorapplication referred to above.

A cloth web I is supplied on a roll 2 mounted in any suitable way. Theweb is guided over rolls 3 to a roll 4 having a rubber covering 5throughout its length. As the cloth passes around this roll it meets anengraved roll 6 which carries the mercerizing paste. The latter issupplied to the roll by a small roll 1 dipping into a tank 8, and thesurface of the roll is cleaned by a doctor blade 9 leaving the paste inthe intaglio portions of the roll. As stated above, the web ispreferably dampened in accordance with the process described in theMcConnell Patent 2,117,491 prior to being placed in the machine, andthis moisture is supplied to the paste from the body of the web causingthe latter to be drawn through the web toward the back side thereof.

Were the cloth to be placed directly against the rubber covering 5 asmall amount of the mercerizing paste would pass through the intersticesof the cloth and accumulate upon the roll surface. This accumulationwould ultimately become transferred to the back side of the cloth out ofregistry with the pattern printed on the front side and av lack ofsharpness of the design would result. To prevent this accumulation theprocess described in the earlier application made use of a web of cloth,generally called the`back gray, which absorbed this surplus material butwhich had to be removed from the machine for washing. In accordance withthe presentinvention, a rubber blanket I is passed around suitable guiderolls II which conduct it to a roll I2 againstv which rotating wetbrushes i3 bear. Suitable doctor blades or felts Il are pressed againstthe rubber blanket after it reaches the roll I2 to remove the bulk ofthe surface mois ture, and an air blast I5 further assists in thisremoval. The blanket is then guided by additional rolls I I throughslots in the end of a closed chamber I6, a current of dry air beingcirculated through this chamber to remove the residual moisture from theblanket. The blanket, which is in endless form, then returns to the rollI3.

The cloth, with the pattern of mercerizing paste printed thereon, thenpasses over various guide rolls I'I toa rippling conveyor IB. Thisconveyor is driven in any suitable way at a constant speed, which inaccordance with the present invention need not be changed for differentgrades of cloth. The material after passing the conveyor I8 goes overguide rolls I9 and is again rippled onto .the surface of a constantlymoving conveyor 20. The conveyor 2li can be considered as representing axed time allowed for shrinkage in all cases, while the conveyor i8represents a variable additional time serving to control the totalamount of shrinkage permitted. To accomplish this a plurality of guiderollers 2| are located above the conveyor 'I8 at linter-1 vals along itslength so that the web may be led over any one of them. It'will easilybe seen that if the guide roll chosen is toward the delivery end of theconveyor I8 a very short additional shrinkage time will be given by thisconveyor whereas if the roll at the other end is chosen the full periodrequired for the rippling may be varied.

accept? tionl or if for' any reason it is not desired to use apredampened web to supply this moisture.

After leaving the conveyor 2t the web receives a neutralizing treatmentin acid and is then washed and dried without the exertion of anyrestraint upon the shrinkage of the fabric. All this is described in theprior application referred to. The dried fabric may be brought to adefinite width in the usual form of tenter frame.

What is claimed is:

i. In an apparatus for making pliss crepe and including mechanism forimprinting upon one side of a moist web a mercerizing agent in apredetermined pattern; means for receiving the printed web andsupporting it without warpwise or weftwise tension to permit shrinkageof the web, said means comprising a pair of superposed conveyors havingtheir upper surfaces running in opposite directions and traveling at alower rate of speed than the advancing web, means to feedv the web fromthe first conveyor to the second without warpwise or weftwise tension,and a plurality of guide rolls positioned to direct the leading end ofthe web into contact with the uppermost conveyor at one of a number ofpoints along the length of the conveyor whereby the total travel of theweb on the conveyors can be varied without changing the speed of theconveyors.

2. In an apparatus for making pliss crepe and including mechanism forprinting upon one side of a moist web a hydroscopic shrinking agent in apredetermined pattern; mechanism for receiving the printed web andsupporting it with-- out warpwise or weftwise tension to permitshrinking of the web, said mechanism including a constant speedconveyor, and means for varying the initial point of deposit on saidconstant speed conveyor whereby the total length of linear travel, andconsequently vthe shrinking period,

v HUGH MccoNNnLL, Executor under the will of Thomas McConnell,

Deceased.

